Page 65 of Hometown Cowboy

Ryan pulled back slowly. Intense hazel eyes stared into her own.

“I have to go.”

He stepped back and straightened. Thank goodness he looked as affected as she was. He swallowed and threw her a fast smile. She grabbed a reusable coffee cup from the cupboard above her and transferred his drink into it and handed it to him.

“See you later, Darb.” The depth of his gravelly voice chased the goosebumps clear down her spine.

“‘Bye,” she managed. “Thanks for the wood.”

He coughed a laugh and grinned widely as he backed toward the door. “Anytime.”

Darby gasped and flushed, her cheeks heating instantly at his overt mistaking of her words. “Get out of here!”

Darby blew out a breath as the door shut behind him.

That had been the most sensual, non-sexual, non-kiss she’d ever experienced. Her knees wobbled, threatening to drop her to the floor. She forced her legs to get her to the lounge room and sank down on the edge of the recliner.

“Wow.”

*

“Wow.”

Ryan scrubbed his hand over his face and gunned the engine of his ute. His heart raced and his hands shook.

He let out a wistful laugh.

Darby Jameson had everything it took to bring him to his knees. If she’d even hinted at wanting him, wantinganythingfrom him, he would’ve handed it to her, no questions asked, just by being close.

The one thing he didn’t need to offer was his heart.

She already possessed it, body and soul.

He picked up the coffee after his tyres hit the highway, heading toward Gabe’s. Tendrils of steam rose from the small opening in the silicone lid. He breathed deeply, the unique, pungent scent of fine coffee invading his lungs and blood, overlaying the fresh scent of Darby that was still so strong.

Rapid images tumbled over one another, smacking him squarely between the eyes, overlaying the reality of the world on the other side of the windscreen. He swerved to the verge of the road and slammed on the brakes.

Breaths came short and fast. His hands shook so much he couldn’t do anything but grip the steering wheel. Sweat broke out all over his body.

Coffee.

The wide grin on Darby’s face as he spun her around the dance floor at the community centre, the unmistakable smell of coffee all around them as people stopped drinking alcohol and went for something more sedate.

The tartness of it on Darby’s mouth as he lost himself tasting her.

The scent of the crisp early morning dew that was almost frost as he took that first sip of the morning while watching Darby sleep, her naked form sprawled tangled amongst his sheets.

Darby was naked in my bed.

Ryan tried to regulate his breathing. He knew she had been, that much was obvious considering the circumstances, but he hadn’t remembered it. Any of it.

The touch of a hand, the slide of skin on skin. It all hammered his senses, his mind, his heart.

That first moment of hearing her confirm she was pregnant—thefirsttime. The panic. The utter certainty that he wasn’t father material, then the blinding need to prove that hecouldbe.

It all swirled and coalesced. He didn’t know what order it was supposed to be in, he guessed that part would sort itself out eventually.

But heremembered. He rememberedthem.